By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
January is Human Trafficking Awareness month.
Law enforcement has worked to combat the nationwide problem of human trafficking. And while it’s a problem nationwide, being a transportation hub there are a large number of cases in Missouri.
St. Joseph Police Chief Paul Luster says we have not been immune to the problem, and the training to combat it for officers is critical
“What to look for, what laws apply when you do run across it, what resources are available for victims, and so the more information, the more training you can get the officers and even the community of what to look for is a really good thing to combat this issue,” Luster tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr.
Luster says many times these investigations will lead to things that happened online, so things quickly become a computer forensic type of investigation
“Where you’re trying to get data extracted from a cell phone or computer, and so you can see just from me saying that how that could really start to tax a local agency,” Luster explains. “We’re lucky here in St. Joseph we have an Electronic Crimes Unit, we have a cell phone examiner and a computer examiner, but there’s a lot of smaller agencies in Missouri that don’t have that.”
Luster says training officers, as well as the community, on what to look for is also key in helping combat human trafficking
Some of the warning signs of potential trafficking situation include signs of physical abuse, branding tattoos, wearing clothing inappropriate for the weather or location, not being in possession of their money or identification, body language indicating discomfort, lack of eye contact with anyone except their trafficker, or not being allowed to speak for themself.
Luster says while there are resources to help law enforcement agencies combat human trafficking, it can also become a very complex investigation.
“It can get very large, it can start crossing jurisdictional boundaries, city limits, county lines, state lines, even sometimes outside of the country, so you can see how if we opened an investigation in St. Joseph and we started getting something that big, that could really tax our resources,” Luster says.
According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were 249 human trafficking cases identified in Missouri in 2023, involving 356 victims.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.